


Children's Card Games

by inRemote



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternative Universe - Card Games, F/F, forcing your friends to watch a VHS of a children's cartoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 15:49:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22498597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inRemote/pseuds/inRemote
Summary: Caspar insists that he has something absolutely incredible to show the rest of the Black Eagles, but refuses to reveal what it is. Edelgard is sceptical.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 7
Kudos: 118





	Children's Card Games

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Oricalle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oricalle/gifts).



> Happy birthday Ori!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this non-sanctioned entry into the Luck of the Draw universe, that is absolutely not inspired by a discussion of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime. At all.
> 
> Big thanks to Mado for proofreading!

“So, I told you I got something _special_ for tonight’s tactics meeting.”

Caspar had certainly said that. He had barged into the Black Eagles’ group chat to yell about his “fucking wild” discovery. Then, he had _insisted_ on meeting up as soon as possible. He had refused to elaborate any further - apparently, his discovery had been too important to reveal in-chat.

So now, Edelgard and the other Eagles were all huddled in Dorothea’s living room. Again. Despite Caspar’s unusual evasiveness, the group wasn’t hard to bring together. After all, drinks were on the house tonight.

 _Actually,_ thought Edelgard, _something else was unusual_. Bernadetta was with them. Sure, it was nice to have her company - even if she was currently absorbed in _Animal Crossing_. But why was she here? Edelgard idly wondered if Dorothea had convinced her to join in.

She sat on the corner of the couch closest to Bernadetta’s beanbag chair. Edelgard gave the timid girl a brief wave. In response, Bernadetta managed a slightly raised hand before returning to her distraction.

Meanwhile, Byleth settled down next to her. As she leaned over to speak to Bernadetta, she pressed dangerously close to Edelgard. The younger woman’s face burned, and she sank into her seat. She silently pleaded for her heart to stop hammering against her chest.

“Hi, Bernadetta. It’s good to see you.” Bernadetta jolted, and looked up at Byleth. From the younger girl’s uncomfortable expression, Edelgard could tell that she knew the conversation was unavoidable.

“H-hi, Byleth,” Bernadetta replied, desperately trying to ignore the screams of her consciousness. “It’s... nice. To see you?”

Ever the social butterfly, Byleth ploughed on. “Are you here for the tactics meeting? It would be nice to see you at Nabatea, if you’re interested.”

It took Bernadetta a few seconds to realise what impression Byleth was operating under. “Oh! Oh, n-n-no. I don’t think I could cope with Fire Emblem,” she laughed nervously. “Sitting across from people is... Not great. For me.”

“So why are you out of your room?”

 _Oh, show a little more tact,_ Edelgard groaned mentally _._ She leaned over as best as she could, despite Byleth’s weight pinning her down. “We’re just pleasantly surprised to see you here, Bernadetta. We’d love to see you more often.”

Under their combined attention, Bernadetta shrank into her beanbag chair. “I don’t... know about that,” whispered the younger girl. “But Caspar asked me if I wanted to come. I didn’t really want to, but he told me what you were doing, and... I kinda want to see it.”

Byleth blinked. “See what? Did he tell you what he found?”

Bernadetta sank deeper into her corner with a squeak. “I-I can’t tell you! He told me to keep it a secret! I’m so sorry!”

Gently, Edelgard placed a hand on Byleth’s shoulder to guide her back. At this point, the younger girl was clearly uncomfortable. _She clearly needs space right now._

“That’s okay, Bernadetta,” Edelgard said. “We wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. If you’re interested, I’m bound to be too.”

Bernadetta nodded, and returned to _Animal Crossing_. Edelgard gave Byleth a slight, but warm smile, and Byleth nodded in understanding, settling back into her seat. Edelgard tried not to think about how warm Byleth had felt under her hand.

Or her shoulder muscles, for that matter. _God_ , she wanted to squeeze them so badly _._

Thankfully, mercy granted her a reprieve from her thirst.

_“HEY, NERDS!”_

Everyone’s attention snapped to Caspar, standing in front of the TV. In one of his hands was a gigantic refuse bag, bulging at all sorts of weird angles.

“If I get noise complaints, I’ll make you apologize to my neighbours in person,” Dorothea grumbled. A cursory glance told Edelgard that Dorothea was far too wrapped up in Petra to really manage genuine irritation.

Caspar shot her a smirk before he began. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I called you here tonight.”

“Not really,” Linhardt yawned.

“Shut up, Lin,” Caspar laughed. Then, with an overwrought English accent, he continued his diatribe. “Anyways, I woke up one morning to discover that I had - in an inebriated state - purchased something _so incredible_ that I could not even _fathom_ cancelling the order, in spite of the unfortunate consequences for my overdraft. Tonight, I wish for my _dearest_ friends to share the consequences of my poor financial decisions.”

“Just get to the point,” Edelgard groaned. “I already gathered that we’re not talking about tactics.”

Caspar brandished his black mystery sack at the room, before theatrically sticking his arm into the sack’s mouth. “My fellow gamers, I present to you-” Caspar bellowed, extracting an object from the sack, _“-the entire first Fire Emblem anime on VHS!”_

In his hand was a ratty VHS case - specifically, a VHS case for the first three episodes of the show. Edelgard didn’t want to know how many other VHS cases lurked in the bag.

The rest of the room stared at him in silence. Caspar had brought them here for... _cartoons?_

Then, Petra clapped her hands with delight. “I remember this! The cartoon with the children playing the cards! The characters come out of the cards to fight!”

Caspar pumped his fist and grinned. “Now there’s somebody with _taste_. They’ve got this classic grainy VHS quality that we all know and love. I even rewound all of the tapes - just for the full experience! So basically, we’re gonna get drunk and watch kid’s cartoons. Who’s in?”

“Subs or dubs?” said Linhardt

“Uh... dub,” Caspar replied.

Linhardt grumbled.

“Well, we _are_ already here...” Dorothea frowned. “But Caspar, I don’t have a VHS player. I don’t keep _relics_ in my house.”

Caspar, unperturbed, reached into his bag of secrets once more. After some groping, he produced an entire VHS player - tangled cables and all. “I _always_ come prepared!”

Edelgard glanced at the large selection of beer that he also brought. “Quite.”

There was another moment of silence before Ferdinand, too, clapped his hands together. “I think this will be fun! I haven’t seen this since I was a child. I look forward to seeing how it holds up.”

“I like it,” Byleth stated. “I had all the tapes when I was growing up. I used to watch them over and over again when Dad and I were travelling.”

“Well if we already had them, I could have saved myself some money...” Caspar sighed. Then, something dawned on him. “Wait,” he grinned, pointing at Bernadetta - who was desperately trying to sink in her chair again. “We got Bernie to hang out with us! Surely that’s worthy of a watch?”

“Very well,” said Edelgard. “ It should make for an interesting insight into the game’s early years.” Caspar didn’t need to know that Byleth’s fondness for the show made her change her mind.

“Oh Edelgard,” Petra laughed. “The cartoon does not observe the rulings of the game. The characters are frequently cheating.”

“Ah,” Edelgard replied. “Well, we’re here now, and _some_ of us are already on the road to a hangover. Let’s just watch it.”

Caspar gave a hoot of victory, earning him a swift talking-to from Dorothea. As he mucked around behind the TV under Dorothea’s watchful eye, the room settled into a casual conversation. Edelgard shot a sideways glance at Byleth, who seemed to be intensely focused on Caspar’s VHS-connecting escapades. It was a similar look to the one she gave while playing _Fire Emblem_. She wasn’t much for conversation in this state.

After a few false starts, the VHS was finally set up. Caspar turned off the lights, and suddenly, in the darkness, Edelgard felt uncomfortably aware of Byleth’s presence.

“I present to you, _Fire Emblem: the Animation!_ ”

The various company logos on the TV screen cast the room in a dull glow.

Edelgard found she wasn’t quite prepared for the show. Everything was _incredibly_ over the top; from the upbeat opening theme to the characters with their ridiculously spiked hair and bombastic personalities.

At first, the premise was simple. A young school boy called Itsuki Aoi drifted through life, struggling to find interest in anything. When his childhood friend Tsubasa Oribe entered a card game tournament, he followed her just in time to see vicious monsters emerging from the cards themselves. A diminutive dragon called Tiki grants him and his friends the power to call forth heroes from their own cards, and so their quest to defeat Gharnef. Edelgard recognises the characters from the original release of the game; Marth, Caeda, Camus, and so on.

Petra was right. The rules of the game are outright ignored in favour of pure spectacle and dramatic tension. Itsuki spends more time yelling commands to his cards than he does playing a game. In fact, Edelgard wouldn’t find it unfair to suggest that the card element of the series was just a tenuous way to link the game to what was, ostensibly, just a story about fantasy knights and mages. Only the plot became more obtuse and bizarre as time went on. Edelgard was vaguely aware they were only a handful of episodes in and she was already struggling to follow the story.

Edelgard hadn’t been expecting much, so she couldn’t be too disappointed. The animation had obviously been done on a low budget, and wasn’t great. The voice acting for the English translation was _awful_ , and frequently, glaringly failed to match up anywhere near the mouth movements of the characters.

But that was fine. Edelgard’s attention had wandered elsewhere.

At first she’d glanced over at Bernadetta to see if she was okay. It appeared she was; she’d put her console away and was staring intently at the screen, a huge grin over her face. Edelgard didn’t know how Caspar had known this would be something Bernadetta would love, but it was clear she was having a great time. Maybe she’d inquire with him afterwards. It would be nice if he could shed some light on her.

And in the other direction, she saw that Byleth was transfixed. She’d said that she had watched it several times growing up, but it was clearly still as important to her now as it was then. Edelgard watched as Byleth became something of a forecast for the show; she would tense up a little just before a surprise twist, or grin preemptively just before a touching moment. Edelgard even saw that Byleth would, with the subtlest of moments, mutter lines and phrases that had left an impact on her as they played out on screen.

They got through two tapes before alcohol, boredom, and the desperate need to stretch their muscles put an end to their adventure. Life returned to the room as chattering started. Caspar was excitedly discussing the finer details of the show with a surprisingly calm Bernadetta. Ferdinand was making idle conversation with Byleth. Dorothea and Petra had apparently found their interest shifting from the show to each other as the alcohol had flowed, if their current state on the other sofa was any indication.

Linhardt was, of course, asleep.

They were already low on energy after sitting in the dark for so long, and people swiftly started making their exits. Bernadetta decided she had had enough social interaction for one night and promptly disappeared. Ferdinand took his leave first, as he always did. Caspar and Linhardt got a cab home as usual, opting to leave Petra in Dorothea’s care, which Edelgard took as a signal to leave asap. She corralled Byleth out the door, catching a grateful look from Dorothea as she closed the door.

“I can give you a lift home, Byleth. I haven’t had anything to drink, so I’m fine.”

Byleth nodded. “Thank you.”

It felt weird, to have Byleth in the passenger seat of her car. Byleth seemed to bring a certain intensity to every situation they found themselves in. Or maybe that was just Edelgard being constantly, unrelentingly aware of her. She sought to break the silence before her thoughts could wander too far.

“That show was something, alright. Did you have a nice evening?”

Byleth nodded again. “Yes. I’ve watched it a lot, but I guess it’s comfortable. There wasn’t much else to do. I didn’t get many opportunities to play with other children.”

Edelgard wasn’t sure how to react to that and keep her attention on driving at the same time. “I’m... Sorry. I know how it feels, if that’s any consolation.”

Byleth shook her head. “It’s fine. That’s why tonight was nice. I was watching it again, but with friends. It’s the same, but I’m different, I guess. So that was a nice feeling.”

She paused for a minute or so, which was all the time Edelgard needed to pull to a stop outside campus. “Thank you, Edelgard, for watching it with me.”

Edelgard was glad the lack of light would hide the blush that rose to her cheeks, because she was sure Byleth would immediately interrogate it. Instead, she could just smile politely. “It was my pleasure, Byleth. And while we should thank Caspar for his efforts at providing entertainment, I’m glad you convinced us to watch it. I had fun.”

Byleth returned the smile. “I’m glad. Good night, Edelgard.”

“Good night.”


End file.
